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RESULTS		Results 1 – 25 of 45
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Perry and Thrust U.S. should back off from biofuels to bring down food prices, says Texas guv		28 Apr 2008	News
Posted at 4:56 PM on 28 Apr 2008 Has the U.S. push for biofuels contributed to rising global food prices? Well, yes, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday: "There has been apparently some effect, unintended consequence from the alternative fuels effort." But, she hastened to add, "biofuels continue to be an extremely important piece of the alternative energy picture" and & ...
Topics: ag policy, ag subsidies, agriculture, biofuels, economy, energy, food, news, politics, state politics, Texas (all these topics)

Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars New Sundance doc tells the story of the TXU coal fight in Texas	David Roberts	22 Apr 2008	Gristmill
I finally got around to watching my preview copy of Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars, the new short documentary from Robert Redford's Sundance outfit. It's about the battle over the 12 coal plants proposed for Texas by TXU in 2007. A couple things that I thought were quite well done: Environmentalists play virtually no role -- they're scarcely seen, except on the edge of the action. The main players are small-town Texans and Texas mayors. It's very clear that th ...
Topics: coal, energy, grassroots activism, movies, state politics, Texas (all these topics)

Algal update Texas forum on what's new, April 10	Erik Hoffner	02 Apr 2008	Gristmill
For the interest of those who haven't given up entirely on biofuels, I humbly present the National Algae Association forum in Texas on April 10. This meeting will serve as an update on what's new in this promising branch of the nascent sustainable biofuel movement: biodiesel from cultured algae (outside of biodiesel from waste oil, that is). This week's Renewable Energy World podcast had an interesting interview with the principal of one algae-fuel company, Solix Bio ...
Topics: biofuels, energy, renewable energy, Texas (all these topics)

The Brave One Clinton talks up clean energy at Houston energy summit		29 Feb 2008	News
Posted at 1:36 PM on 29 Feb 2008 The Greater Houston Partnership held an energy forum Thursday to which all of the presidential candidates were invited and only one showed up: Hillary Clinton. Surrounded by folks from the energy industry, days before the crucial Texas primary, Clinton elected not to tell Big Oil what it wanted to hear. "I do not believe that now is the time when subsidies for the oil companies are necessa ...
Topics: Big Oil, energy, Hillary Clinton, news, politics, presidential race 08, Texas (all these topics)

Progressive energy policy in Bayou City? Carl Pope talks market failures with energy execs at Houston energy conference	Josh Dorner	28 Feb 2008	Gristmill
Today's second panel -- Carl's, on 'conservation and the environment' -- opened with remarks from Houston Mayor Bill White. Despite my earlier comments about the road-crazy Bayou City, Mayor White laid out some items from what appears to be a truly progressive energy agenda for Houston, including making it an international leader in green buildings. Some of his more interesting comments came when White told the story of being one of the staffers that helped ...
Topics: energy, placemaking, green building, Texas (all these topics)

Familiar refrains from some fossil fossils Big Energy promotes Big Energy at Houston energy conference	Josh Dorner	28 Feb 2008	Gristmill
Today's first panel focused on 'supply-side solutions' and featured quite a line-up: Dana Flanders, President, Chevron Technology Ventures James Hackett, Chairman, President, and CEO, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Thad Hill, Executive Vice President and President, NRG Texas Robert Kelly, Founding Director, DKRW Energy LLC Aubrey McClendon, Chairman of the Board, CEO and Director, Chesapeake Energy Corporation This being a veritable who's who of the ...
Topics: energy, oil, oil and gas drilling, Texas (all these topics)

Dispatches from the heart of oil country	Josh Dorner	28 Feb 2008	Gristmill
I am here in sunny Houston today with Carl Pope, our executive director, who will be addressing today's huge energy confab.Oil City USA is about what you'd expect. (I have some expertise on the subject, having briefly called Houston home a few years ago.) Instead of expanding public transport to its rapidly-growing Western suburbs, Houston decided that spending billions to tear down buildings and seize land within a thousand feet on either side of a 20-plus mile stretch ...
Topics: energy, Texas (all these topics)

Wildcatting the wind in Texas Conventional energy vs. renewable energy	Joseph Romm	27 Feb 2008	Gristmill
This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project. ----- As all eyes turn toward Texas this week in advance of the Democratic primary, we will see a state that is beginning its transition to a new energy economy. Texas is grappling with a shift the entire nation faces -- and as usual, it's doing it on a big scale. When it comes to energy and to carbon emissions, Texas is a place of super ...
Topics: coal, energy, nuclear power, oil, renewable energy, Texas, wind power (all these topics)

Alternate futures Two huge power plants offer different paths forward	David Roberts	22 Feb 2008	Gristmill
In Sweetwater, Texas, a company called Tenaska has applied to build what will be the nation's first bona fide "clean coal" plant -- an IGCC plant that will capture and sequester CO2 emissions. (Said emissions will be used to pump more oil out of the Permian Basin oil fields, which will then be burned and create more CO2, but who's counting?) The 600MW plant is projected to be completed in 2014. Meanwhile, Spanish engineering firm Abengoa has signed a deal w ...
Topics: Arizona, carbon sequestration, coal, energy, renewable energy, solar voltaic power, Texas (all these topics)

Question of the day What about the RPS in Texas?	John McGrath	16 Dec 2007	Gristmill
So Senate Republicans managed to kill the Renewable Portfolio Standard in the energy bill. One question: who was the big-government, nanny-state liberal who forced one of the nation's largest and most successful RPSs on the poor, unwitting state of Texas? Hint: As Governor of Texas in 1999, he signed the RPS into law and later moved to the District of Columbia to pursue other opportunities, like threatening to veto a bill that would have treated all Americans like ...
Topics: energy, renewable energy, legislation, politics, Texas (all these topics)

How many Texas mayors does it take ... ?	Joseph Romm	05 Dec 2007	Gristmill
... to change the lightbulbs Texans use? The answer turns out to be ... five: To kick off a statewide campaign to get residents to replace old light bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs, Texas mayors vowed to launch an effort to make the bulbs available, to encourage their use and to suggest that people give them as gifts for Christmas or other occasions ... Joining San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger at the Energy Conservation Summit were Aus ...
Topics: energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, Texas (all these topics)

Texas State Pastime: Making Up New State Symbols Texas mayors want CFL to be state light bulb		04 Dec 2007	News
Posted at 2:50 PM on 04 Dec 2007 The state bird of Texas is the mockingbird. The state song is "Texas, Our Texas." The Texas state footwear is the cowboy boot, its tie the bolo tie, and its pepper the jalape�o. Now, five Texas mayors have called for the Lone Star State to have an official state light bulb: the compact fluorescent. Which, while laudable, sheds no light on why Texas is the only ...
Topics: energy, funnies, news, Texas (all these topics)

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Crappiness Navajo nation at odds over coal-plant plan		27 Jul 2007	Daily Grist
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Crappiness Navajo nation at odds over coal-plant plan Members of the Navajo nation are at odds over a plan to build a $3 billion, 1,500-megawatt coal-fired power plant on reservation land in New Mexico. Tribal leaders say the plant -- whose juice would go to Las Vegas and Phoenix -- will generate $50 million in much-needed annual revenue and create ...
Topics: climate, coal, energy, environmental justice, New Mexico, news, Texas (all these topics)

Citgo Boom Jury finds Citgo guilty of criminal Clean Air Act charges		29 Jun 2007	Daily Grist
Citgo Boom Jury finds Citgo guilty of criminal Clean Air Act charges In a legal first, oil refiner Citgo has been found guilty of criminal charges under the Clean Air Act. The case -- involving two open-air storage tanks in Corpus Christi, Texas, that released the carcinogen benzene into the air -- marks the first time criminal violations of the act have gone to trial; previous cases against ref ...
Topics: business, energy, environmental justice, news, oil, Texas (all these topics)

The Long and Windy Road California is no longer leading the pack on wind energy	Kate Galbraith	28 Jun 2007	Main Dish
Last year, California suffered the ultimate indignity in its quest to be the "greenest state." It was passed by red Texas -- the oil heartland -- for the title of state with the most wind-power generating capacity. The numbers get even more depressing. Last year, California's wind capacity grew at a slower rate than any of the other top 10 wind-producing states. Texas's w ...
Topics: California, energy, innovation, renewable energy, Texas, wind power (all these topics)

Testifying before the Texas Legislature on climate change Read about it and/or watch it happen	Andrew Dessler	01 May 2007	Gristmill
There are something like 12 bills in the Texas Legislature this session addressing climate change. Most of them are deader than a doornail, but we might see passage this session of a bill to create a Texas climate change task force. This doesn't sound like much, but for Texas it's actually quite an accomplishment. To get an idea of what testifying there is like, you can take a look at my archived testimony here (Real Audio). My testimony starts at 9:20. Particularl ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, Texas (all these topics)

Texas solar opportunity Act nowor forever hold your pleas	Adam Browning	07 Apr 2007	Gristmill
The battle over the TXU coal plants has been well chronicled on these pages. As an elegant companion to the efforts to shut down coal, there's a proposal in the Texas Legislature -- sitting in committee right now -- that would develop a world-class solar energy program for Texas. The TexSUN solar program (House Bill 2226 and Senate Bill 1357) would remove some of the regulatory barriers standing in the way of a robust solar market, and provide incentives to home ...
Topics: energy, solar voltaic power, Texas (all these topics)

Who are the green power leaders? NREL tells us	Kif Scheuer	04 Apr 2007	Gristmill
DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) yesterday released its annual ranking of leading utility green power programs: Customer choice programs are proving to be a powerful stimulus for growth in renewable energy supply. In 2006, total utility green power sales exceeded 3.5 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), about a 30% increase over 2005. More than 500,000 customers are participating in utility programs nationwide, up more than 10% from 2005 Some highlights f ...
Topics: energy, renewable energy, Texas (all these topics)

Brawn With the Wind Goldman Sachs and other financial powerhouses get into the Texas wind biz	Kate Galbraith	23 Mar 2007	Main Dish
What is Goldman Sachs doing in rural Texas? Probably some of its bankers have wondered that themselves, when they find they're three hours from the nearest latte. A Texas turbine. Photo: NREL / Cielo Wind Power One of Goldman's subsidiaries, Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy, is constructing a $600 million, 400-megawatt wind farm in the boonies west of Dallas. Financiers of ...
Topics: business, energy, Texas, wind power (all these topics)

Renewable energy and the election It's popular even in Texas	Adam Browning	21 Mar 2007	Gristmill
I take issue with one-issue voters, mostly because I think one-issue candidates make terrible legislators. But that said, I wouldn't do what I do if didn't believe that transitioning to a renewable energy economy is a critical, keystone challenge facing our country, with profound implications for our future. And I'm not the only one. I don't think politicians properly appreciate how popular renewable energy is. Take this recent poll (PDF) from Texas, the heart of ...
Topics: elections, Energy, politics, renewable energy, Texas (all these topics)

What's a Couple of Coal Plants Among Friends? TXU buyers announce plans for two coal-gasification plants		12 Mar 2007	Daily Grist
What's a Couple of Coal Plants Among Friends? TXU buyers announce plans for two coal-gasification plants The private firms that proposed a $45 billion buyout of Texas coal giant TXU continue to make some hearts go pitter-pat. After announcing that TXU would scuttle plans for all but three new coal-fired power plants, the firms added Friday that they would look into building two coal gasification plants ...
Topics: business, coal, energy, greenwashing, news, Texas (all these topics)

Texas Fold 'Em TXU Corp. board accepts biggest buyout offer in U.S. history		26 Feb 2007	Daily Grist
Texas Fold 'Em TXU Corp. board accepts biggest buyout offer in U.S. history The white-hot controversy over 11 proposed coal plants in Texas has taken on a new hue. The board of TXU Corp., which has kicked up an anti-coal firestorm among businesses, politicians, and citizens, voted yesterday to accept the largest leveraged buyout offer in U.S. history -- and the $45 billion deal looks oddly g ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, coal, energy, news, Texas (all these topics)

Perry and Thrust Judge's ruling could buy Texas coal-plant permit objectors more time		21 Feb 2007	Daily Grist
Perry and Thrust Judge's ruling could buy Texas coal-plant permit objectors more time They say everything's bigger in Texas, and that applies to coal battles too. A big ol' permit hearing on six of the power plants proposed by TXU Corp. was scheduled to kick off today, with opponents explaining why they're not keen to live in a "ring of fire." But the anti-coal crowd got a big ol' reprieve: a judge decided yesterday th ...
Topics: coal, energy, news, Texas (all these topics)

Y'all Go Away Now, Y'Hear? Texans rally to stop coal-fired power plants		13 Feb 2007	Daily Grist
Y'all Go Away Now, Y'Hear? Texans rally to stop coal-fired power plants Some 1,000 fired-up citizens gathered at the Texas Capitol on Sunday to oppose proposals for up to 18 new coal-fired power plants in the state. The protest, organized by about 40 environmental and health groups, attracted greens, businessfolk, and people who like breathing. Much ire has been focused on energy giant TXU, which has a $10 billion proposal to bu ...
Topics: coal, energy, news, Texas (all these topics)

Another op-ed on climate change and Texas New coal plants like accelerating toward a wall	Andrew Dessler	22 Jan 2007	Gristmill
My colleague Jerry North and I wrote an op-ed about plans to build a slew of new coal plants in Texas. It was not published, but I think it makes some good points. Interestingly, many of these same points are made in a recently published op-ed reported on here. Texas, coal, and climate change You're driving fast down a winding road. It's nighttime, and visibility is poor. You think you see warning lights in the distance, but you're not sure. Do you: Step on ...
Topics: climate, energy, Texas, coal (all these topics)

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